{"id":24248,"date":"2020-06-11T04:00:28","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T04:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/?p=24248"},"modified":"2025-10-21T14:43:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T18:43:29","slug":"4-questions-men-should-ask-their-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/4-questions-men-should-ask-their-doctors\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Questions Men Should Ask Their Doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you scheduling a checkup with your health care provider? Do you know what questions you should be asking? Whether you see your doctor once a year during your annual check-up or more often to manage a chronic condition, make the most of your next appointment with a few basic questions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Am I up to date on my routine health maintenance?\u00a0<\/b>Staying up to date on vaccines and routine screenings, such as colonoscopies, blood pressure readings and blood panels to measure cholesterol and glucose levels<\/a>, is essential, though many men don\u2019t take advantage of an annual physical to get this information. But staying on top of routine health maintenance appropriate to your age can help you detect disease or risk factors for disease early and get a head start on successful treatment.<\/li>\n
  2. Can I reduce or stop some of my medications?\u00a0<\/b>Your primary care physician may not be as happy about prescribing medication as you think, so the next time you visit, bring a full list of all medications you are taking (over the counter and prescription) to re-evaluate their necessity. Even if you still must take a particular medication, you might be able to reduce the dosage. And don\u2019t be shy about asking if there are less expensive alternatives to your current treatment regimen.\u00a0Just don\u2019t stop taking a prescribed medication without consulting your physician first. It can be dangerous to stop taking some medicines cold turkey.<\/li>\n
  3. How can I improve my lifestyle?<\/b> Whatever your personal goals, talk strategies with your health-care practitioner. We know diet, exercise and other lifestyle choices can go a long way to preventing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers<\/a>. But talk to your doctor about your alcohol consumption, smoking, body mass index, erectile dysfunction, sleep, stress and other lifestyle factors, including interpersonal relationship issues that can affect health and happiness.<\/li>\n
  4. What\u2019s the plan?<\/b> Don\u2019t leave your doctor\u2019s office without a road map for what your need to do, work on, or be aware of, before your next visit. If you receive a diagnosis, know if you\u2019ll be referred to a specialist, how to manage symptoms, what side effects to expect (especially if you\u2019re prescribed a new medication), what\u2019s next in your treatment plan and when to schedule a follow-up visit.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Are you scheduling a checkup with your health care provider? Do you know what questions you should be asking? Whether you see your doctor once a year during your annual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6548,6551,1957,6554,16,5360],"tags":[682,1079,34,1243,660,289],"class_list":["post-24248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-condition","category-diabetes-type-1-type-2","category-health","category-heart-disease","category-lifestyle","category-mens-health","tag-diet","tag-doctor-visits","tag-exercise","tag-lifestyle-change","tag-mens-health","tag-smoking"],"yoast_head":"\n4 Questions Men Should Ask Their Doctors - Black Health Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whether you see your doctor once a year or more often to manage a chronic illness, make the most of your next visit with a few questions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/4-questions-men-should-ask-their-doctors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 Questions Men Should Ask Their Doctors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whether you see your doctor once a year or more often to manage a chronic illness, make the most of your next visit with a few questions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/4-questions-men-should-ask-their-doctors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Black Health Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/blackhealthmatters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-11T04:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-21T18:43:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/living-until-65.bigstock-e1591848164222.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"298\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Black Health Matters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BHMinfo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BHMinfo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Black Health Matters\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/4-questions-men-should-ask-their-doctors\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/4-questions-men-should-ask-their-doctors\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Black Health Matters\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fe74ac2cd86e246ac090dc9325ccc844\"},\"headline\":\"4 Questions Men Should Ask Their Doctors\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-11T04:00:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-21T18:43:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/4-questions-men-should-ask-their-doctors\/\"},\"wordCount\":392,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/4-questions-men-should-ask-their-doctors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/living-until-65.bigstock-e1591848164222.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"diet\",\"doctor visits\",\"exercise\",\"lifestyle change\",\"men's health\",\"smoking\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Condition\",\"Diabetes (Type 1 & Type 2)\",\"Health\",\"Heart Disease\",\"Lifestyle\",\"Men's Health\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/4-questions-men-should-ask-their-doctors\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2020\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/4-questions-men-should-ask-their-doctors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blackhealthmatters.com\/4-questions-men-should-ask-their-doctors\/\",\"name\":\"4 Questions Men Should Ask Their Doctors - 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